Justin  hinds



@uiten gieten @anni @Hirn JUSTIN HiNDSoE SALEM, ANI) GILES HENRY LODGE, 0E SWAMPS'GOTT, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No 76,448, dated April 7, 1868.

.IMPEGVEMENTIN STEAM-ENGINE' Pistons.

T0 ALL WHGM' IT MAYA GONGERN:

Be itknown that weyJUSTIN HINDS, of Salem, and GILES HENRY'LODGE, ofswampscott, in thecounty of Essex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a' new and `useful Improvement in Steam-Engiuestand we do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exactv description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and toV Athe letters of reference marked thereon.-

Our invention cousistsiu a newm'e'thod of attaching the connectmgn'od to the piston in thatv class of pistons used in the Hicks steamfeu'gine, and described in a1 patent issued toWilliam-Gleveland Hicks on the 21st day of February, 1865.

Previous to our in'vention,rthe connecting-rod in the 'Hicks' engine,above Vreferred to, was attached to a.

steel piu,- passing through the centre of the pistonmidw.ay between the two ends, but several objections were developed to this mode of ettachmentby use, the `principal one'of which was that the passage of the steel pin through the cylindrical piston partially destroyedits elasticity, "so that when it became necessary'to' expand the? piston by meansfthe packing-wedge',` only the upper halt` of the piston was expansible, or if the wedge were drawnfti-ghtly enough toex-paridV the lower half of the piston, the pin became` sprung, and thus cramped the free movement ofthe -connectinglrodl 'i This mode 'of attachment also involved' the necessity oi'- making the connecting-rod of such form that it lacked strength; and' was not easily adjusted after it had'worn loose. i Byf means of. our invention,"thes`e objections and defects are obviated.` In the accompanying drawings- F-gureri isa vertical section through the vlongitudinal cen-tre of a Hicks pistou, with our improvement attached.

Figure 2 is a horizontal longitudinal section of the same.

`Figure Sis an end view of the piston: u A is the cylindrical piston, a, d, steam-passages between its external and internal surfaces, and B the connecting-rod, B is' the'piston head, attached to the cylindrical portion'of the pis-ton by screw-bolts. G is atubular nut, 'passing through a. hole in the cent1-eef the pistonehead, and secured by a check-nut, c, .screwed 'down upon the head,vso as to preventeany escape of steam through the same.' The nut C is closed at its'outer en'd, to prevent lthe escapeof any steam through it, and it serves the purpose of yeil-bolt as welles a nut.V al is an eye-bolt, the front portionof-which is screwed into the nutiG, and the rear end pivoted to the connecting rod by a'pivot-bolt, df.. eis aflini'ng, iittingclo'sely in-a. concave recess in the interior ofthe cast-iron pistonhead, btremoable therefrom when necessary. The eye-bolt cl passes thro'ugh said liningbefore entering the Vnut C. i Y v The end of the connecting-rodis semicircular or convex, 'so as to fit into the concavityof the lining e,

but hasarecesshf, in the central portion of it, to receive the head Aof `the eye-bolt d, and saidrecess is so formed as to allow the headfof" the eyefboltto' turn therein. When the joint becomes loose from wear, it may be easily tightened by turning the' nut C.l

To prevent the check-nut c from heing-jar-red out of'place, a holding-plating) so maderas to fit closely upon v said nut, with an arm", h, extending tothe circumference of the piston-head, is provided. v Through the outer .end of said arm is a hole, through whicheitherof the three bolts n, which secure thepis'tou-h'eadto the cyliny drical portion of the'piston, may-he passed, before being-screwed home. `The orice in said holding-plate, which i embraces the muta-'hasv twelve angles, iz', all of whichwill it the angles of said hexagonal uut-c. Consequently, said holding-plate may always be so tte'd on tothe nut c that its projecting arm z.lA will come very near Vone' fof the bolts n, and so that a slight'movement will' bring it tovcoincide with suohbolt, and permit the same to pass through it.'

In the Hicks' piston,'to which our improvement is applicable, there is a`paclri11g-wedge, M, fig. 1J which, being drawnforward by turning the screw-bolt m, will expand th'e Acylindrical portion-ofthe pistou, to'compensate for wear. When the piston is'thnsto be'expanded, the screw-boltsn1l u n are loosened, andthe vholt-holes in the piston-headvbeing -slightly elongated in thelineotl the expausiomallow the cylinder to expand without strain upon the bolts.

We are aware that it is not new to 'attach' a. connecting-rod to the inner side off the head of a`hollow cylindrical piston, as this has been done in certain pumps and trunk-engines, rod has ever been 'so attached to an expansible cylindrical piston, as to allow the same to be expanded, without obstruction, b or its equivalent.v We-do not, therefore, head; but

What we do claim as our improvement, and desire to secure by Letters' Patent, is-

1. In combination with an expansible cylindrical piston, bolt-holes, as described, or their equivalents, set forth.

2. In combination with the piston-head and connectin eye-holt d, screwing into the nut C, and all arranged subs but we are not aware' that the connectingor so attached to a hollow'cylindrical piston y means of a packing-wedge, as herein described, claim broadly attaching the connecting-rod directly to the pistonand connecting-rod jointed to said piston-head, substantially as g-rod, we claim the tubular nut C, lining-plate e, and tantially as described.

JUSTIN HINDS, G. H. LODGE. Witnesses as to JUSTIN EINES:

J. J. CooMBs, JOHN .A.'BArss1-z'rT.44 Witnesses as to Gines HENRY LODGE:

JACOB A. ALLEN, D. THAXTER.

as described, the detachable head B', with elongated 

